Sunday, November 14, 2010

I don't mean to be bossy, but . . .

It's tart & sweet with a *perfect* flaky and buttery crust. I think you're going to like it.

Yes, the crust is homemade. Don't be scared. If *I* can you it, *you* can do it. And really, nothing makes me feel like more of a domestic goddess than making my man a pie with homemade crust. He'll thank you.

One thing, though. Please remember to place the pie on a cookie sheet, or place a cookie sheet below it in the oven. Someone forgot this time...

Reserve a few tablespoons of flour, set aside. Whisk together remaining flour and salt. Cut in the shortening until it is crumbly.

Place the reserved flour on work surface and coat butter in it. Use a rolling pin or your hand to flatten the butter until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Break the flour-coated butter into 1 inch pieces and mix into the dough until it is evenly distributed.

Sprinkle water over the dough while tossing with a fork just until it is easily squeezed into a ball. Flatten into 2 disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.

On a floured surface, roll each disk into a 12 x 9" rectangle (approx). Fold into thirds, like a letter, then fold again in thirds to form a square. (A bench scraper REALLY helps here!) Wrap both pieces again and refrigerate 30 more minutes.

After 30 minutes, let rest at room temperature for 5 minutes, then roll one out for the bottom crust. (I can never get mine round...oh, well.)

Line a glass pie pan with the crust and brush with beaten egg white.

Fill with pie filling and add the top crust, venting as desired. Brush with egg white.

For the Cranberry Apple Pie:
{modified from an old Williams-Sonoma Pies & Tarts cookbook}

Preheat the oven to 425. Line the bottom of a glass pie pan with pie crust as directed above. Brush with lightly beaten egg white.

Stir together the sugar, flour and salt.

Peel, core and slice the apples.

{Do you have one of these contraptions? I LOVE mine!}

Add the apple slices, cranberries and orange zest to the sugar mixture and toss well. Pile into the prepared pie pan. Top with bits of butter.

Cover the pie with the top crust and vent as desired. Brush with the beaten egg white.

Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake 40-50 minutes more, until the fruit is tender when pierced with a knife. (Check the crust periodically and tent with foil if it browns before cooking through.)

When I saw the tweet that your filling had over-flowed I was quite curious to see what pie you had made. Hours after the tweet, I finally know! Your oven may have been (O.K., it WAS a mess and I really would have bought you a double latte while you cleaned it up, heck I would have helped)but oh my gosh Bridget you have made a beautiful looking pie here. Your crust looks like the flakes would be airborne when a fork was pressed into it and that delicious filling of apples and cranberries! I think I would have cleaned your entire oven for you just to get a piece of this.P.S. You know I've never made a pie crust with shortening and butter but if it turns out like yours I'm all for it.

Bridget!Look at YOU!Look at you coming out of your COOKIE~COMFORT zone and showing out with a PIE that's to DIE for!This has got to be one of the BEST~est PIES I've ever seen!The CRANBERRIES totally win me over!Not that you were trying to WIN me over!But if I was a judge...in a PIE eating contest...I'd declare THIS~LOVELY~PIE as the WINNER!All because of the CRANBERRIES...oh...and the CONTRAPTION...that you sliced the APPLES with!That puts this PIE over the top too!I LOVE it that you made your own crust!Of course you did!You're that kind of a GIRL!And I know Mr. E and Kiddo adore you to PIECES!PIE~PIECES that is!xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

That looks amazing! It's a good thing you can't gain weight from looking at pictures. After looking at all of your great baking photos over the past few days it's a wonder I haven't eaten every sweet in the house. I may just have to make this for Thanksgiving!

That crust is just amazing. It's so flaky. I love cranberry apple pie so I know you're right. I need to make these pie. Unfortunately, I don't have anyone to bake for so I'll have to keep this recipe on hand for later.

Looks so delicious! I made your coconut cake (think the recipe was from mom's day) for a friend last week. OMG!!! It was so great! My mom said she remembered your mom making this cake. Just wanted to tell you thanks for the recipe.

This looks fabulous!! And I love your food photography! Would you consider linking this over at Tell Me Tuesday on Vintage Pollyanna? I'd love to have you! http://vintagepollyanna.blogspot.com/2010/11/tell-me-tuesday-link-party-1.html

I absollutely agree with you. I made my very first pie ever (apple) this weekend and see many more in my future, especially for Thanksgiving. I used to be so scared of pie crust and now I can't wait to make another one.

I'm going to make this, too...I can't resist!!! I've never made a REAL pie before (only the canned pumpkin pie) and I'm going to try! I WILL be buying a backup refrigerated pie crust, though...that scares me!

Just made this pie tonight (dry run for Thanksgiving), and it is super yummy! One word of caution, though: it is tart, tart, tart! If you love cranberries, you'll absolutely adore it. If you're just neutral on cranberries, or don't really love them all that much (like my dear, patient husband), you might want to change the cranberry-to-apple ratio a bit and add just a touch more sugar. And, yes, this pie is definitely MADE to be accompanied by ice cream!

I made your crust! I've been making pie crust for about 20 years, and a pretty good one, too. But this one was the best. So nice and flaky, even after a night in the fridge. My morning-after-Thanksgiving breakfast of pumpkin pie has never tasted better. :)

Made this for Thanksgiving dinner and my apple-pie-loving FIL almost licked the plate clean. I used mostly Granny Smith apples, but because mine seemed a little small and we like LOTS of filling, I threw in a couple Honey Crisps that were in the fruit bowl. I love the tart contrast of the cranberries with the apples. Thanks for sharing!

Bridget, while I didn't get around to making it for Thanksgiving, I just made it today as a pre-Christmas treat for my brother and his final review was, and I quote, "Wow." The only tweak I made was to include a few squeezes of the orange along with the zest which rounded up the citrus kick just a little.

The flaky and crumbly crust is one of the characteristics that you'll never forget in a pie. Also, using a scoop of vanilla ice cream as a topping for the apple pie is the best, since you'll be in flavor heaven when you both put the warmness of pie and the coolness of the ice cream in your mouth.

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